What's in your yeast wallet?

[gwapogorilla]

Well, after a couple years of brewing and learning how to wash and freeze yeast, I have been building up a nice little inventory of my favorite yeast strains.
I thought maybe I could get a little thread going where people could post what they have kept and what they like about the strains. Also, what they have thrown away and why.

REMEMBER...This is based on your PERSONAL palate, experience and preferences. No judging here!


My yeast wallet...
1. wyeast 1056 "American Ale"....accentuates malt, clean...no esters, floccs out well.
2. white labs 090 "San Diego Super"....super fast fermentation, clean...no esters, accentuates hops, floccs out really REALLY good! SUPER complete fermentation!
3. wyeast 1214 "Belgian Ale"...loads of plum esters, floccs out well,
4. white labs 644 "Brettanomyces Bruxellensis Trois"...just got this stuff not long ago....to be determined.
5. yeast bay "Vermont Ale" ...nice peach esters, floccs nicely, complete fermentation.
6. yeast bay "Funktown"...nice fruity esters pf peach with a touch of pine/pineapple, floccs well, complete fermentation.
7. wyeast 1318 "London Ale III"...Accentuates malt, leaves a sweet beer with nice mouth feel, floccs well.

What I have thrown out...
1. white labs 530 "Abbey Ale"...wasn't fruity enough, tasted a "slight" alcohol burn.
2. white labs 029 "German Ale/Kolsch"...sulfur, YUCK! Took 3 months in the bottle before I couldn't detect it anymore. (tried it 2 times , both had sulfer)
3. wyeast 3944 "Belgian witbier"...produced sulfur smell and taste
4. white labs 011 "European Ale"... super low flocc
5. white labs 080 "Cream Ale"...sulfur, YUCK!
6. white labs 300 "Hefeweizen Ale" , banana esters...I hate bananas!


My wish list to make my wallet complete...
1. white labs 585 "Belgian Saison III"....I missed it last year, been waiting ever since.

 

[Redhawk96]

1. Wy 3711 - my all time favortie brewing ingredient. Makes the best Saisons, and attenuates like crazy.

2. Bell's yeast - just cultivated it from an Oberon 6-pack a few weeks ago. Going to brew an Oberon clone and an IPA with it in a month or so.

3. WL029 - Brewed my first kolsch with it a month agoo, and just kegged it last week. I got no sulpher with it prior to carbonation, so I guess YMMV. It tasted great going into the keg. Saved a vial from the starter.

I also use US-05 a lot, probably at least 50% of my batches. A good, verstile, predictable yeast.

 

[Calder]

Keep/Re-use:

- PacMan (cultured from bottle)
- Essex (WLP022)
- Thames II
- Anchouffe (WLP550)
- Chimay (cultured from botttle)
- Duvel (cultured from botttle)
- Brett-B (WLP650)
- Brett-C (WLP645)
- Roeselare
- Lambic Blend
- House Sour mix

Got rid off/don't use

- Chico (I prefer PacMan; much more flexible).
- Kellerweise (I could never bring out the flavors SN could)
- 3711 (I agree this is a great fermenter, but I really don't like the flavors it produces. There are a lot better Belgians out there for my tastes).

 

[d3track]

Wlp 800
Wlp 835
Wlp 300
Wlp 545
Wlp 013
Wlp 028

 

[chickypad]

Currently keeping:

- 1217
-Pacman
-3787, 3711
-1010
- WL 830
-Spencer Trappist yeast - first batch currently brewing from a bottle culture, if it turns out well I plan to maybe replace 3787 as a house Belgian strain
-packs of Notty

Got rid of:

- Chico strains: I've lost my love for these over the years. I've experienced the peach and poor flocc with 05, diacetyl with 001 at times, they just don't seem to behave as well for me as Pacman and (my new favorite for American styles) 1217

 

[KartRacer54]

Well I'm boring! Just started reusing yeast and trub.

1056 using for all of my lighter ales
1084 using for my stouts, Dry Irish, Imperial Stout, Buffalo Sweat clone. Great yeast for all of my stouts.
Will be adding a yeast for Wheats very soon.
Sure like the savings of recapturing yeast!

 

[kanzimonson]

Unless you're keeping slants or brewing REALLY frequently, I'm not super confident about our ability to healthily maintain too many strains. I made a fantastic lager in mid-December, and then didn't get to reuse the yeast until mid-February. I made two starters in an attempt to reinvigorate the yeast, and also gave it a dose of wort while the batch chilled to pitch temp. The beer just wasn't great - the frequent comment was "eh, tastes like a homebrewed lager." Clean enough, no off-flavors, but a little estery. Surprising because I pitched at 46, fermented 48-50, and finished around 62.

Sure, some yeasts are more or less resilient in storage but I have several personal anecdotes about taking a risk on an older culture and the yeast just doesn't seem to perform quite optimally. Do you take any extra precautions to grow up old yeast?

 

[gwapogorilla]

I use yeast nutrients when I wash and freeze. Then more nutrients when I make a starter.

 

[JonM]

3068, 1028, 1007, 1214, and I'll have to get my hands on some Bell's yeast soon.

Oh! And 002. Love that stuff.

 

[socratesbrewing]

At the moment only really keeping a couple at all times:
SouthYeast Farmhouse Saison Blend
Another unnamed yeast from SouthYeast
Belle Saison (always keep a packet on hand)

Got rid of:
Wyeast 1028
Wyeast 1098
Wyeast 1056

This mostly had to do with my shift in brewing in the past year. I have brewed nothing but Belgian styles over the last year for the most part. Keeping the other strains just didn't seem worth it as I wasn't using them enough to go through the trouble of harvesting.

 

[skw]

WY 1217 is my new favorite, definitely will keep this one on slants.
WLP 860 is brand new in my brewery and very promising. If the bottled and carbed result is anything like the gravity sample I tried, this will become my go to lager yeast.
I always have some dry yeast around. BRY-97 and S-04 are my current favorites.

Waiting to be tested: PacMan, I have some on a slant but haven't brewed with it yet. Also hoping to try out M79 soon.

Was not impressed by WY 2112, but that may have been a recipe error. Will give it one more chance before I give up on it.

I have used a lot of Nottingham and US-05 in the past, but they will rest for a while - I need to mix it up a bit.
There's a slant with WY3711 in my fridge, but I'm not sure if I'll ever use it. I'm just not that into Belgians.